Description
Book SynopsisIn Australian Theatre after the New Wave, Julian Meyrick charts the history of three ground-breaking Australian theatre companies, the Paris Theatre (1978), the Hunter Valley Theatre (1976-94) and Anthill Theatre (1980-94). In the years following the controversial dismissal of Gough Whitlam’s Labor government in 1975, these ‘alternative’ theatres struggled to survive in an increasingly adverse economic environment. Drawing on interviews and archival sources, including Australia Council files and correspondence, the book examines the funding structures in which the companies operated, and the impact of the cultural policies of the period. It analyses the changing relationship between the artist and the State, the rise of a managerial ethos of ‘accountability’, and the growing dominance of government in the fate of the nation’s theatre. In doing so, it shows the historical roots of many of the problems facing Australian theatre today. “This is an exceptionally timely book... In giving a history of Australian independent theatre it not only charts the amazing rise and strange disappearance of an energetic, radical and dynamically democratic artistic movement, but also tries to explain that rise and fall, and how we should relate to it now.” — Prof. Justin O’Connor, Monash University “This study makes a significant contribution to scholarship on Australian theatre and, more broadly… to the global discussion about the vexed relationship between artists, creativity, government funding for the arts and cultural policy.” — Dr. Gillian Arrighi, The University of Newcastle, Australia
Table of ContentsPreface. Brief History of Australian Theatre Acknowledgements List of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Note on Sources Brief Chronology Introduction The Whitlam Era Cultural Subsidy in Australia Accounting for Australian Theatre: Different Approaches Badiou and Truth 1 The Origins of Alternative Theatre Alternative Theatre Two Moments 2 The Paris Theatre 1978 The Sydney ‘Scene’ The Paris Narrative The Paris Reviewed The Meaning of the End 3 The Hunter Valley Theatre Company 1976–1994 Steel City The Neeme Era Into the 1980s with Brent McGregor The Governmentalisation of the Arts Last Years of the hvtc The Group of Six The Meaning of the End 4 Australian Nouveau Theatre 1980–85 The No. 1 Tram In Search of a Company ant and the Event of Artaud Mignon’s Return ant’s Place in the World 5 Australian Nouveau Theatre 1986–89 From Triumph to Disaster Chekhov and Beyond: Integrating the New Wave Legacy Loss of Funding The Refused Artist Accepted 6 Australian Nouveau Theatre 1990–91 The Ghosts of Emerald Hill The Company Reborn The Funding Game 7 Australian Nouveau Theatre 1992–94 The Move to Gasworks Theatre ant, Ruined 8 Australian Nouveau Theatre: The Meaning of the End Internal Problems External Problems The Destruction of Fellowship: ant vs. Playbox Creative Nation: Culture with the Art Left Out Conclusion The Logic of Culture: The Fate of the ‘New’ The Post-Whitlam Era (No) End of an Idea Select Bibliography Interviewees Index
